The Artist as an Advocate
Many artists, musicians etc start up some form of trust or charity as a tax break for their earnings. And they leave it at that. Let the money work for others, without working for it. Which is fine. Money is good for many causes. They might have a family health thing they want to make sure gets funded. And they don’t really have any expertise to input, so they hire people who do to watch over it. They might visit kids or fans who have the health issue and befriend them. Provide their care and some nice trinkets, up to making sure they have housing. They might put grants into education to support the arts and kids who might not get opportunities otherwise. That’s cool.
Some artists get into social issues they care about. They read up on it, or it’s something they’ve experienced and know the effects, so they give money and may speak or set up forums, give interviews about the cause. Also fine. They can really put a mike on issues with their fan base. It’s great if they’re on the right side of it. As we’ve found out with the pandemic, they aren’t always though. Which puts people in danger for listening to their hero. The cost of this worship can be death.
Their fan base can become a swarm and attack other people in the name of their star. They can dox, stalk, manipulate till their target becomes suicidal.
Some actually go into politics due to their interest in their issue. When they want to change the system itself rather than just help people cope with it.
And some actually go to the battlefield and fight (literally) for their cause. They help with medical teams, rescue, reporting and some become soldiers.
Does this mean that artists are more idealistic? Smarter? Are they doing it themselves or are they being manipulated?
But what if an artist misuses their fan base? Like actually creating a cult? (No I don’t just mean an avid fan base!)
How does or should society buffer their fans when this happens? Can you separate the good behaviours and tolerate them and the bad ones and sanction them? Or stop all such manipulations?
Can society tell artists what they can make to reduce their influence over their fans and society? Should there be censure or restrictions on what artists do (not only in their craft but as people with influence)?
We know that things can get out of control. But we also know that influence can be world changing. If you need an example of that, Charles Dickens is a good one. Some of his writings changed life & laws for poor people. And some artists who thought they were just writing a book changed philosophical thought for centuries.
What we can’t do is underestimate artists. They could be a force for good. Or they can be all that’s cruel and bigoted. But we want to have free expression. So does that mean we have to tolerate everything?
mspeachierocks 